


Ghosts that we knew

by wefewwehappyfew



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Also I like to torture people with feels, Gen, I like my endings in the rocks fall everyone dies style, Mentions of other characters from ASOIAF, Sort of spoilers for ADWD and general speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 03:47:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16846516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wefewwehappyfew/pseuds/wefewwehappyfew
Summary: Every day Joy woke up in the last years, she had to remind herself that things were different.





	Ghosts that we knew

Every day Joy woke up in the last years, she had to remind herself that things were different.

She was no longer Joy Hill. She was Joy Lannister, legitimized by the Dragon Queen, who believed that it would be the greatest insult to House Lannister, the proud House Lannister, to legitimise a bastard and make her the Lady of Casterly Rock.

But there was no House to insult any more. With her uncle Tywin murdered by Tyrion, the glory of House Lannister began to fade. And with it, the men and women of the family.

Uncle Kevan had been discovered dead in his chambers in King’s Landing. Assassinated by an unknown killer.

Lancel, the pious, starved himself. Praying to the Seven day and night, purging his sins and those of the family. ( _You are a product of sin, Joy. I will pray for you too._ )

Aunt Genna had been executed along with her Frey husband when  Edmure Tully won back Riverrun. Jaime simply disappeared, no corpse to bury and to say goodbye.

Cersei was strangled in her sleep. No one ever told Joy who did it, if they ever knew. And not long after, Myrcella died, giving birth to a little girl her Martell prince named Elia.

And then, the Queen and her dragons appeared. King’s Landing was burnt to ashes, as Jaime told her once that the Queen’s father, the Mad King, wanted to do when Robert Baratheon was at the gates.

But Jaime wasn’t there to stop her.

And Tommen and his Tyrell queen and all of their courtiers were nothing but charred remains. Like the rest of that city she only saw once.

During Tyrion’s imprisonment and execution.

Joy pleaded for him. But it was useless.

Tyrion was considered a traitor, as he had been an ally of the “Mummer’s Dragon” as she liked to call the boy that called himself Aegon.

She only went back to Casterly Rock with his remains. And turned into a trueborn Lannister lady.

The last of them.

Until she saw him this morning, while visiting the market, like she did every week to be in the people’s good graces. 

Jaime.

Jaime.

Jaime.

It was him. She was sure of that. 

An old, emaciated version of him that tried his best to hide his severed hand. But when he looked at her, she knew.

“Jaime?” She asked, approaching him and resting her hand on his arm, much to the surprise of everyone.

He didn’t look up at her.

(She wished he would. One word from him and he would have his place as Lord of Casterly Rock back. She would step aside gladly.)

It wasn’t her Jaime.

This man was broken, in so many ways… This was a man who had lost everything and everyone he loved.

But still, it was her Jaime.

The hero of her stories. The only one who took care of her after her father disappeared.The man to whom no one ever would compare.

Every fibre of her being was crying out for him to say yes. To say he was Jaime. To give her some hope.

“I am afraid you are mistaken, m'lady.” he said, stepping back, still looking down.

But Joy could have sworn… she could have sworn there was a small smile on his face as he looked up at her.

She let him go, not wanting to cause a scene.

“I will go back to the market tomorrow” she told herself, in the dark of her chambers.

She would go back every day so she could see him. 

Because even if he said no a thousand times…

Seeing her cousin Jaime again made Joy, of House Lannister, happy for the first time in years.

**Author's Note:**

> \- So, Joy is probably one of my favourite minor characters from ASOIAF, and I really really love how protective Jaime seems to be of her.  
> \- This being said, it wouldn't be me if I weren't Satan towards my favourite characters.  
> \- Though I also like my glimmers of hope quite a lot tbh.


End file.
